ANDERSON COOPER 'I FEEL MOMENTS OF SUCH BLISS'

AFTER ENDURING PAINFUL LOSSES, THE CNN ANCHOR IS BUILDING A JOYFUL LIFE WITH SONS WYATT AND SEBASTIAN

- ERIC ANDERSSON

It's around 9 a.m. on Labor Day, and the only thing brighter than the sun is Anderson Cooper's mood. The 56-year-old CNN anchor is barefoot on the lawn of his Connecticut country home, posing for People's cover shoot, when his former partner and close friend, nightclub owner Benjamin Maisani, 50, strolls up with their sons Wyatt, 3, and Sebastian, 18 months. Cooper takes a break to greet the trio and inquire about their breakfast outing at a local diner. "How were the pancakes?" Cooper asks in a far softer tone than the one he uses to grill politicians on his news show Anderson Cooper 360.

Moments later Maisani (who adopted the sons Cooper welcomed through a surrogate) and the kids join Cooper and sit on the ground in front of the photographer, with Wyatt bouncing on the newsman's knee as children's songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" play on a portable speaker. Cooper-known for reporting from war zones and natural disaster sites-prioritizes these idyllic experiences. "I feel moments of such bliss, humor and gentleness and sheer delight that it stuns me," he says later in his living room, a large but cozy space with a baby grand piano and bookshelves lined with titles from Dominick Dunne, Eudora Welty and others. "This is the best time in my life," he adds as his sons' laughter drifts in from another room.